The Business Council of Australia, backed by the nation’s other peak business, industry and welfare groups, will launch a concerted campaign on Wednesday urging politicians of all persuasions to start governing for the long term and not just the “next six months".

The campaign, which has been many months in the making, reflects rising frustration with the standard of politics and policymaking in Australia.

Accompanied by a television and newspaper advertising campaign, BCA president
Tony Shepherd
will tell the National Press Club that Australia’s long-term prosperity requires a “radical change in our nation’s planning for the future’’, something that the BCA considers to be “somewhere between half-hearted and non-existent’’.

The speech, titled “When Business Works, Australia Works’’, will be attended by senior representatives from the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Minerals Council of Australia, the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, the Australian Council of Social Service, and ­GenerationOne, a movement set up to help end indigenous disadvantage.

Mr Shepherd’s central message, to be reflected in the advertising, is that while it is a challenge in some countries to create jobs, raise living standards and secure long-term prosperity, in Australia, it is merely a choice.

It will set performance goals such as Australia being in the top five countries in respect of income per capita and the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index; for more than 90 per cent of young Australians to complete Year 12 or equivalent; for all Australians to have access to a world-class health system; and to tackle entrenched ­disadvantage and close opportunity gaps between indigenous and other Australians.

While most of the frustration is directed at federal politics, Mr ­Shepherd will stress all levels of government, as well as the community and non-government sectors, have a role in delivering the goals. He will say that responding to the challenges and opportunities of a changing world – such as an ageing population, the rise of emerging economies, and the ­infrastructure needed to support population growth – requires a focus on barriers to enduring national prosperity.

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The business community has been increasingly critical of the Gillard ­government but this campaign will be aimed at both sides.

Mr Shepherd set the scene for Wednesday’s address with a recent speech to 65 chief executives. He was critical of the government’s “class war’’ approach and laid out a case for the executives to pressure both major parties to end short-term political fixes in favour of substantial economic reform. At the same time, there have been rare moments of praise for the government.